Foil Characters In Romeo And Juliet Essay

In a story, characters play one of the biggest rules. They start the conflict, fix it, and add more to it. It is easy to pick out a main character, supporting characters, or even minor characters. However, foil characters are a little less noticeable. In the common play, Romeo and Juliet, there is a number of foil characters to be picked out. The definition of a foil character is “a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character” (Literary Devices). Although foil characters are more challenging to observe, they make up more of the story than imagined. When they are noticed, they stress the qualities of the opposite character. The play mentioned before uses this technique a lot. There are two characters …show more content…
Romeo is known for his intense, heartfelt speeches towards the people he loves. Immediately when he loses Rosaline, he mourns openly over her. He says, “Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes; / Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers’ tears” (Shakespeare 1.1.203-204). He makes an illusion of Rosaline being taken away from him in a sweep of smoke. She has left him troubled, and alone. This proves how deep his love was for her, and that it was not a hoax. Even though Romeo moved on quickly from Rosaline, he loved Juliet just as truly. After meeting her at a party, he goes back to her house. There, he says, “See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! / O that I were that glove upon that hand, / That I might touch that cheek” (Shakespeare 2.2.23-25). After falling in love with her, he falls in love with the little things about her. He gets jealous of her hand because it is able to touch her cheek. After meeting the girl, Romeo suddenly becomes joyful and hopeful for his life and future. He starts to believe again, and everyone notices. One night he has a happy dream and boasts about it. He states, “If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, / My dreams presage some joyful news at hand” (Shakespeare 5.1.1-2). This dream was after Juliet was proclaimed dead. When he visioned this, he believed that she was okay. He dreamt that he was kissing her again, and she had nothing to worry about. He remained content and cheerful because of this. With this evidence, it could possibly show Romeo is more thoughtful. But, Friar is more likely to show his caring side than him. He tells Juliet, “Hold, daughter, I do spy a kind / of hope, / Which craves as desperate an execution” (Shakespeare 4.1.75-77). He is reassuring Juliet that she will be okay. She is dreading her wedding with Paris, so he encourages her not to give up. Friar has this power to keep people’s hopes